PC and radio wont play well together.....

[W2NAP]

well i spent the last several hours moving tables around. moving the tower ect ect. hoping to cure my rf prob. sadly no dice.

key up on 10 I lose all wifi (card literally shuts down) and ether mouse or keyboard will become totally unresponsive, "hot keys" and random programs start opening or worst case entire system lockup.

pretty bad since 10 is somewhat open (heard a p. rico station on 10.) if i want to try 10 i literally have to turn the pc off which is something i do not like at all.

[W5RB]

So , give us some details to work with . What rigs , power supply , antennas and feedline ? Where is the antenna in relation to the rig and PC ? Can you get your hands on a dummy load ?

[W2NAP]

Kenwood Ts-430s KPS-21 supply just a simple 10 meter dipole outside rg8x coax. got the dipole its above me. but its about 15ft up "flat top" rig sits to me left tower is to my right under the table. (rig&ps is on another table to itself) tower is prob 4ft at least away from the rig.

dummyload is up the road. with the rain and wind to much of a hassle to walk the 3/4mile to get it then 3/4 mile back when the wind dies (instead of the 30MPH shit we can just get rid of) ill go up and grab it. along with the 259 analizer

[W5RB]

If the dipole is physically very close to the rig and computer , I'd bet you're radiating RF back into everything . First step would be get the antenna farther away , if you can . Better shielding of the computer might not be hard to accomplish , if it's needed . The dummy load should tell you a lot . Have you tried reducing power out ? I'm presuming your antenna SWR is fairly low , and that with your current privileges , you haven't tried other bands .

[W2NAP]

If the dipole is physically very close to the rig and computer , I'd bet you're radiating RF back into everything . First step would be get the antenna farther away , if you can . Better shielding of the computer might not be hard to accomplish , if it's needed . The dummy load should tell you a lot . Have you tried reducing power out ? I'm presuming your antenna SWR is fairly low , and that with your current privileges , you haven't tried other bands .

moving the antenna is in the plans. 18ft pole inverted v i plan to test out sometime soon. but going to be a little while (maybe a few weeks)

so far only qso ive had on 10 is a friend up the road. used maybe 20 watts.

hopefully tomorrow, i can grab the dummyload (also 259 just to double check how the dipole is)

and no only band ive tried is 10 since the dipole is cut for 28.4

[NQ6U]

A very common ingress point for RFI is the keyboard cable. If you have (or can borrow) a wireless kb, try substituting that and see if it helps. I have similar problems; I can't use more than about 50 watts out on some bands because of it.

[KG4CGC]

I wish I could be of some help. My only issue is trying to figure out why I get so much gibberish when monitoring PSK. Everything else is fine business and all my stuff is basically butted up together.
Check all your jumpers for open spots on your shielding. If you have a field strength meter, compare your readings inside the shack with your readings outside.

[PA5COR]

With 1000 watts on all bands from 160 - 10 meter i have no RFI here nor anywhere else.
The OCF is 45 feet high, the inverted L stats at ground level 33 feet away from me 3 feet from the wife's computer and wi-fi connection.

Liberal placing ferrite chokes on cables connected to all equipment, and feed lines at the antenna, a very good ground system ( for the inverted L) and station ground, connecting the station ground, house ground and equipment ground bonding it together.

Living on the edge of the city, but withing dense build up area, it should be no problem, use good quality double shielded coax, decouple the antenna from your coax by 1:1 baluns, etc.

[W2NAP]

i think i have figured out where its getting in. i got a alfa wifi card. been having alot of trouble with it (it uses a USB cable ect ect) anyway pulled the card from the pc. then got into a local rag chew on 10 for about 2 hours. PC didnt freak or lock up. so i think i may have found my cause

[n2ize]

Do you have a tall tree or anything high up to put the antenna on ? I had my antenna about 60-70 feet up at the feed point and I still used to get hit with some nasty rf from time to time.

[N9FE]

Ham radio deluxe is your friend. Also, I know sounds stupid, But do not ground the radio itself. The tuner ground or amp ground should be enough. Sometimes when the radio is grounded it does wierd things as far as RF.

[W5GA]

I wrap all cords leading to both the computer and router on ferrites. Fixed all the problems I was having.

[W3MIV]

I wrap all cords leading to both the computer and router on ferrites. Fixed all the problems I was having.

That's a solution I was going to offer with regard to whatever an "alfa wifi card" is. If it has a cable, it should have a ferrite choke in place. Many cables are now coming with chokes molded in. USB cables of that type should be available after-market.

[W2NAP]

Do you have a tall tree or anything high up to put the antenna on ? I had my antenna about 60-70 feet up at the feed point and I still used to get hit with some nasty rf from time to time.

im tall treeless on this property

[W2NAP]

That's a solution I was going to offer with regard to whatever an "alfa wifi card" is. If it has a cable, it should have a ferrite choke in place. Many cables are now coming with chokes molded in. USB cables of that type should be available after-market.

http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-73/Alfa-AWUS036H-1000mW-USB/Detail.bok

^thats a alfa card

[W2NAP]

got my new card linksys pci card.. pulled the alfa card totally out of line. no more rfi issues...

not losing wifi connection ether anymore.. all is well i can play on 10 now